Last week, at the invitation of Environment Minister Petr Hladík, top representatives and coordinators of Local Agenda 21 from the most successful municipalities, towns and districts met. The meeting was attended by the top category A holders Chrudim, Jihlava and Prague 14, and category B holders Kopřivnice, Prague 10, Prague 12, Velké Meziříčí, Rožnov pod Radhoštěm and Bory. On this occasion, certificates were awarded to those who achieved or defended the highest LA21 category in the past year – Chrudim, Municipality of Prague 12 Rožnov pod Radhoštěm and Bory.
Local Agenda 21 is a state programme for supporting sustainable development of municipalities and regions, which is guaranteed by the Ministry of the Environment. Respecting the principles of sustainable development allows local governments and authorities to apply a comprehensive approach to addressing all tasks and challenges and the desired interconnection of all activities and activities. Because, as was said in the discussion at the meeting, “life is not divided into departments and departments”.
In this context, those present appreciated that thanks to Local Agenda 21 they get independent expert evaluation of their strategic and conceptual work. The experts in the different areas of sustainable development that the MoE engages for the MA21 implementers bring not only an independent perspective on the issues at hand, but also concrete recommendations based on their professional experience and knowledge of the situation in different cities and municipalities.
In a lively discussion with the representatives of the MAE management, the representatives of the cities also expressed their comments on the current set-up of the system and jointly discussed various options how to support the Local Agenda 21 in the Czech Republic in the future and make it more attractive for other cities and municipalities. The representatives of the Ministry presented their plans for further development of the LA21 evaluation system. All present agreed to continue the discussion on the presented proposals at the next joint meeting, which is tentatively scheduled for autumn this year.
Local Agenda 21 is built on partnership and communication. It is a programme for cities and municipalities that was created and developed in cooperation with them. Meetings like this provide important feedback from implementers and help to develop it in line with their needs.
